Meet Charlotte Harrison

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlotte Harrison.

Hi Charlotte, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started my art Instagram, @peytonjanedesign, many years ago, maybe in 2017? My sister and I have always been creatively-inclined, so our original plan was to make a joint account to post our work!

My middle name, Peyton, and hers, Jane, were used to create the name. I didn’t use the account for a few years, but I have rebooted it a few weeks ago to show some of my recent work for fun and as a painting minor at Belmont University.

Over the years, we experimented with many different projects, and I took art classes in high school to help me learn more about what I like. These classes helped teach me the basics about color and line work, and pointed me towards specific art forms that I enjoy most today

Embroidery, for one, has consumed me for years and given me the opportunity to “paint” with thread! I’ve developed my skills and I now enjoy doing more complex work, like baby announcements and illustrative portraits.

I’ve always enjoyed painting, but my high school art classes helped me improve tremendously and try out new mediums. It became a hobby of mine to capture what I was seeing as a form of painting practice. So, when I moved to Nashville in August 2021, I started taking photos of some of my favorite things that I was passing by every day.

Although I ended up making quite a few throughout the year, some of my favorites are The Village Cleaners sign in Hillsboro Village, the Johnson Center building on the Belmont campus, and the Wedgewood United Methodist Church on Wedgewood Ave. These small paintings were a great way for me to learn more about watercolor, but I also found it to be a great destress method during the school year.

After finishing my homework or coming home from a long day, it felt great to be able to listen to music and paint. And, my roommate and her friends would always comment on the new landmarks showing up on my wall! I loved being able to paint something recognizable and meaningful for my Belmont friends.

As I am preparing to move into a new apartment for a sophomore year in August, I’ve been looking for cute and cheap decor. I watched a Tiktok featuring bright, minimalist designs for Clemson University, so I decided to give it a whirl. After messing around with a few computer programs for a few days, I made a cute set of six posters for Belmont!

A lot of my friends and followers enjoyed them, so now I make these posters for other people. It’s so fun to be able to make some spending money by doing something I love. More than that, I’m so excited to think about all of the posters that will be in dorms around town!

Now, I’m still working on posters and paintings, and I have recently been appointed the creative chair of Phi Mu at Belmont University. I look forward to posting more about my art and projects for school this fall!!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s very difficult to break into the maker’s industry.

You can create something nice that people enjoy, but that doesn’t mean you’ll make an Etsy sale or get more than 10 likes on Instagram. It’s always been very discouraging. I’ve used this Instagram several times over the years, but in the past, I have dropped it after not getting the response I had hoped for.

For some reason, this time seems to be different! I think it’s a mixture of things: I’m used to the slow pace of building an art account now, and I am fortunately selling quite a few pieces/posters to friends. It has been helpful to have a larger audience in college and be able to offer my pieces to more people.

I definitely haven’t overcome it yet. I only have a few followers, so it’s nowhere near where I would like to be. But, I have to count my blessings! I got two new followers yesterday, which is a good start. Every like, comment, and follow counts, because that is one more person I can expose to my work!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Most of my work is painting-related, but I also enjoy little one-offs like embroidery or paper cache. Right now, I would say I’m best known for my Nashville Watercolor Collection and my Tiktok-Style Posters.

I’ve attached pictures of both so that you can see them!

We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking?
Sharing art is always risky.

Like many artists, I rarely feel like my work is good enough, so it makes it hard to show it to people without being scared of criticism. It’s even harder on social media when it can feel like the number of views or likes can quantitate how good something is.

I get scared about posting my work every time, but it also gets a little easier with each post. If I can get more comfortable with displaying my work, I can continue to build my platform!

Pricing:

• Posters Set of 4 $35
• Posters Set of 6 $60
• Custom Nashville Watercolor $65

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeytonJaneDesign?ref=profile_header
• Instagram: @peytonjanedesign